


Iolite’s Backstory

by StarrlightStoryteller



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Crystal Gems (Steven Universe), Alternate Universe - Steven Universe Fusion, F/F, Gemsonas - Freeform, Homeworld (Steven Universe), Homeworld Hierarchy (Steven Universe), Homeworld is Horrible, Inspired by Steven Universe, Original Character(s), Pearl Solidarity (Steven Universe), Renegade Pearl, Steven Universe Future Spoilers, Steven Universe References
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:07:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24259381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarrlightStoryteller/pseuds/StarrlightStoryteller
Summary: As Homeworld lies in ruins over Pink’s recent departure, a new gem arises to shake things up.
Relationships: Blue Diamond/Yellow Diamond (Steven Universe)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 19





	1. New Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Homeworld lies in ruins over Pink’s recent departure, a new gem arises to shake things up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Steven Universe nor do I own any of its characters.

It was the middle of Era 2, and Homeworld was in chaos.

Pink Diamonds “shattering” had happened centuries ago, but to Blue and Yellow, it could’ve happened yesterday. The unbearable grief they felt over the loss of Pink had driven them to some very unhealthy behaviors. 

Blue spent all of her time in mourning, either visiting the earth or the zoo or otherwise refusing to leave her chambers. 

Yellow, on the other hand, threw herself into her work, conquering dozens upon dozens of new planets for the empire, hoping that her newfound accomplishments were enough to cover her feelings of unassailable loss.

At this point, White had become completely reclusive, contacting the two only occasionally and doing so through the mouth of Pink Pearl, so Blue and Yellow had to keep the empire running more or less by themselves.

For a while, things seem to be running steady. Despite their emotional baggage, Blue and Yellow were still intergalactic dictators by nature, and even in their handicapped state they were still able to keep a watchful eye over their colonies, producing new gems by the thousands and scooping planets like clockwork.

However, as more time went on, problems began to arise. While gem production was still at an all time high the actual quality of the gems being produced was slowly decreasing. 

Part of this had to with the fact that gem-based production in Homeworld had eaten out the planet, forcing Yellow to stop programming gems with shape shifting. Another part of it had to with the unstable composition of the planetary soil they used on other worlds, which would often times result in a lot more off colors than normal gems.

But those were only technical failures, and Blue and Yellow were used to dealing with those by now. The true problem was much bigger than that.

And after conducting a massive internal analysis of their current labor system, Blue and Yellow finally realized what the problem was.  
Surprisingly enough, the real reason that these new gems were being much less productive than their predecessors, despite their massive advantage in numbers, wasn’t because of their lack of powers or poor building material...it was because of stress.

For some unfathomable reason that existed far beyond Blue and Yellows understanding, the new gems that were being produced were turning in lower quality work because they weren’t fully capable of handling their workload. They were more tired, more harried, more miserable, and more prone to making stupid mistakes that held back their work.

Ordinarily, such a problem would be easy to fix if it was one or two gems (they would usually just get shattered and that would be the end of it) but this was a system wide problem that was affecting THOUSANDS of gems.

Blue and Yellow knew they had to do something (especially with White breathing down their back) but they didn’t know what. Yellow, being the more ruthless of the pair, suggested that the easiest way to fix the problem was with cold hard discipline.

All they had to do was explain to the new gems that if they didn’t see in increase in productivity soon, that the whole lot of them would be shattered. Plain and simple.

Blue, however, being driven by her newfound grief and remembering her harsh discipline of Pink, suggested something different.  
Maybe, she said, instead of yelling and demanding things out of our subordinates like we always do, this time we can take a more...soft approach.

Yellow was off put by her suggestion at first, mostly being surprised that Blue was doing something other than grieving, but Blue assured her that she knew what she was doing.

And with that, Blue went back to her chambers and began to work on designing a new kind of gem.

A gem modeled after her, in terms of both hue and powers, and existing on the emotional spectrum.

A gem not made for building or for fighting, but for listening.

A gem who be programmed to be empathetic to the plights of others, and want to help in any way that she could.

A gem that, if she had existed back then, could have helped out Pink in a way that Blue never had…and never could again...

And after weeks of exhaustive efforts and pouring her literal tears into the production effort, Blue finally did it.

With fiery eyes and a spring in her step she rushed forth from her chambers and into Yellows room to show her her masterpiece.

Yellow: “Blue, what is the meaning of this?!? I told you never to disturb me when…”

Blue: “Shhhh, not now Yellow, look!! I think she’s about to open her eyes!!”

And with that, Yellow looked towards Blues outstretched palms, where in the center stood a new gem.

She was short and skinny, with a tall mane of blue and green hair. Her face was soft and round, checkered with little green freckles, and possessing an overall warmth to it that was perceptible even when we eyes were closed. Her skin was a shade of muted teal, similar to a Lapis, but possessing just the slightest hint of purple. 

Her eyes were closed, and her hands both held firmly behind her back, in a kind of militant salute. It was clear from her appearance that she had not been fully activated yet, but at the same time, one could t help but feel an aura of calmness and inner peace radiating off her slender body.

Yellow knew that this gem was unlike anything she had ever seen before, and was very unsure of how she should feel about it.  
“Does she even work?” She wondered aloud to Blue.

Luckily, Blue didn’t have to answer that question because, as if acting on cue, the new gem opened her eyes for the first time and, staring directly at Yellow, gave a cute little courtesy towards her before speaking up, with a voice as calm as a summers breeze.

“Greetings my diamond. My name….is Iolite.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there guys!! If you’re reading this, I’m assuming that you clicked on the link that I posted in my Instagram bio. If so, thank you so much!! Your readership is welcome and appreciated!!
> 
> For those of you who are new here, and have no idea what’s going on here, allow me to explain. The post you just read contains the backstory of one of my gem ocs, Iolite. Or rather, one of my friends ocs, which she graciously allowed me to use as a part of my Steven Universe Au (thanks a ton @stellar.ink)!
> 
> If you would like to see more of Iolite please consider following me on Instagram (@starrlight.inc) or my good friend @stellar.ink to see more of her, as well as many more lovely pieces of Steven Universe artwork!
> 
> And be sure to leave a like or comment underneath this post! I’d love to get any feedback I can on it (especially since this is my first official fanfic).
> 
> I’ll try and update at regular intervals to keep the story going, but for now, I’d love to hear what you think of this part so far!


	2. Calm Before The Storm

While Yellow was admittedly skeptical of the plan at first (“She’s just one gem, Blue! What POSSIBLE impact could she have on our workers?!?), she understood how much time and effort Blue took into making Iolite, and how much she cared about having this whole thing work out.

Therefore, after a brief planning session she called Iolite back into her quarters and, assuming her usual Diamond-y posture, explained to Iolite what her mission was.

“Seeing as how you are the first gem of your kind, and we have no idea if you even fit within our society or not,” she said with a particular sneer, “you will spend the first 3 months of your existence operating on a trial period. As a part of this trial, you will spend a set number of days visiting any number of various gem outposts and colonies, which Blue and I will assign to you at our discretion. While there, your goal is to seek out the most underperforming, over exhausted gems and to….what was it again?” She took a brief aside to check over her notes from Blue.  
“Ah, yes! You are to… ‘comfort’ them.” She made sure to put visible air quotes around the word comfort to emphasize her lack of belief in it as an idea.  
“You will simply sit them down, ask them about their problems and let them babble on to you for any number of minutes. Then, when they’ve finally finished up with their pointless bellyaching, you are to pull them close, reassure them of their value, and let them know that everything will be okay, making sure to use the calming aura power that Blue programmed into your gem to ease them of any potential stressors. If all goes according to plan, most of the problematic gems should be working back at full capacity after 2 or 3 sessions.”

“We understand,” she added with a growing air of contempt, “that you are getting to having to use these powers for yourself, and so we WILL permit you a little bit of leeway in the first few weeks. But be warned… we DO expect results. Blue put a lot of time and effort into making you and I would absolutely HATE to see all that work go to waste because SOMEONE couldn’t hold up to our expectations… do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, my Diamond,” Iolite responded faintly.

“Good.”

And with that, it was settled. Within minutes, Iolite was shipped off to her first assignment at the Gamma Kindergarten, which was a gem production hub located on Homeworlds latest colony (Depository Z-5). Around this time, any normal gem would be starting to buckle under the enormous pressure of this assignment, which not only came at the behest of both Diamonds, but also involved the use of a methodology never before seen on Homeworld: compassion. Put simply, this was a suicide mission, and a gem of any other cut would’ve been bemoaning their inevitable demise by now.

But Iolite was different.

She wasn’t bound by the same sense of restriction and fear that plagued the other Homeworld gems.  
On the contrary, from the minute she gained consciousness and laid her eyes on Blue and Yellow, her entire being was filled with a deep sense of calm and composure, and most of all compassion.

Even when she was being lectured at by Yellow and given a clear ultimatum that would’ve sent shivers up the non-existing spines of the most brave gems on Homeworld, all she could think about was how excited she was now that she had the opportunity to help others, up close and personal.  
In fact, the closest she ever came to being legitimately afraid of something within the first few centuries of her existence, was when she first stepped through the threshold of the Gamma Kindergarten and, upon seeing the sites resident Agate, thought to herself “I sure hope I’m good enough to be able to help these poor gems.”

But to her luck, and to the complete and utter surprise of the Diamonds, not only were the suspicions of Iolite not being good enough to make a genuine impact wron, they were DEAD WRONG.

As it turns out, not only COULD Iolites powers calm down the gems in her presence and alleviate them of their stressors, they could do so FAST.

Within only a few centuries (practically months in gem time), practically all of the gem outposts that had been falling behind in their workloads were now operating back at full capacity, with some even exceeding their expected production level thanks to Iolites prolonged stay.

From an outsider's perspective, it looked almost like magic. Who was this elusive blue miracle worker, and what tremendous power did she hold that allow her to revitalize the morale of an entire empire all by herself? It was anyone’s guess as to what 

Perhaps it was her alluring voice, which was both bright and bubbly as a mountain spring and smooth and silky as freshly made honey, that drew the gems around her into a state of inner peace.

Perhaps it was the cool touch of her hands upon the gems shoulder or cheek every time she went to comfort them, which gently caressed their skin in cool, gliding waves, like the crisp, welcoming breeze of an early December morning

Or perhaps, as Yellow and Blue would believe, it was the simple reality of her powers. A so called “calming aura” that radiates out from her at will, much like Blue, and filled up each gem in her general vicinity with the same sense of deep seated calm and contentment that she felt every day of her life, like a warm cleansing rain gently washing the deep seated scarring of their inner mind

But whatever her secret was, this one fact remained clear about Iolite remained: she had brought Era 2 back from the brink of despair and ushered in a time of great expansion and great conquest, the likes of which hadn’t been seen since the empires inception.

All of the Diamonds were back at the top of their game as well. Thanks to the sudden turn around in her subordinates, Yellow was able to start colonizing planets like nobodies business, even going so far as to break her own personal record by conquering 50 new planets in the span of only 10 years (the previous record being 38 in 15 years).

Blue also underwent a similar revitalization. Seeing Iolite manage to help out all the other gems through the power of compassion have her a sense of joy and accomplishment that she hadn’t felt since….well since Pink had left her. She felt renewed somehow, as if giant emotional wright had been lifted off her chest, and for the first time what had to be thousands of years, she actually got to work. It started out small at first, with her casually checking up on some of her colonies and occasionally helping Yellow with overseeing some gem production on a new world. But before she knew it, she was back in her old position again, commanding thousands of fleets of gem soldiers with a wave of her hand and mass producing thousands of new gem cuts by the day. Even though she still experienced the same sense of grief over Pink’s demise, she was now at a point in her life where she could afford to start moving on, keeping true to her memory while still living in the present day.

Even White, for all her callousness and indifference, seem to undergo a change in disposition during this time, being willing to check up with Blue and Yellow more often, and even going so far as to call their work “satisfactory” (a glowing endorsement by her standards).

Yes indeed, it seemed that, for the first time in over 10,000 years, the Diamond Authority was now back in their rightful place, as an intergalactic dictatorship hell bent on conquering the known universe and spreading their magnificent light wherever they went

And they would’ve likely kept that place for centuries more, had it not been for the fact that….there was a problem.  
A rather...BIG problem.  
A problem that threatened to unthread the delicate patchwork by which the entire empire had managed to sew itself back together by.  
A problem that, much like with Pink Diamond and her eventual “shattering”, touched upon an aspect of gem society that the Diamonds had never even considered before.  
Something so small, so infinitesimal, that they wouldn’t even spare an ounce of their time to think about it, yet so overwhelmingly powerful that it would eventually lead to the dismantling of their entire empire.

And that problem was…. Perspective.

See, the biggest weakness that the Diamond Authority had, and the reason that so many of their species ended up turning against them, wasn’t that they weren’t menacing enough, or couldn’t effectively command a large army, it was that they viewed their subordinates not as individual beings, but as tools: blunt instruments that were suited for particular tasks, and whose only purpose in life was to fulfill their every demand.

As such, when they first sent out Iolite to the colonies, it was not out of some greater concern for the overall well being of their subjects, or the desire to see them live a fulfilling life, it was simply to get them back to work.

Thus, when they checked back in on their colonies and saw that their production levels were within the acceptable boundaries again, they assumed that everything had been fixed and promptly got on with their lives.

But Iolite knew the truth. And the truth wasn’t pretty.


End file.
